Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Press Release: October 21, 2009 -PIN Payments News Blog - Chip and Pin terminals are no longer just machines to accept credit and debit card payments. A new functionality has been built into these terminals, allowing retailers to borrow their future credit and debit card sales upfront which they can then payback through a percentage of each credit and debit card sale from their customers.

This is a refreshing alternative for retailers who have been struggling to get access to working capital from the banks. Retailers across the country are taking advantage of an asset they already have; their future credit and debit card sales.

This is a perfect time for retailers to learn about this facility that is available to them as Christmas is approaching. Retailers can take advantage by receiving their Christmas takings now which will allow them to invest it into their business by either purchasing Christmas stock, refurbishing their premises or simply whatever they may need.

One merchant who has taken advantage of this new technology is Jake Schamrel of the Courtyard Restaurant. Jake needed working capital to convert unused space in this restaurant into a casual dining room. Once converted, Jake has seen 28% growth in his business revenue.

“This is a genius idea, a unique system that suites my business. The payments are flexible so whether I process £5,000 or £2000 it works alongside my business activity with no risk to me or my business.”

These terminals are giving merchants an alternative route to funding, helping them to grow and improve their businesses. Jake is one of many business owners who will not be beaten and continue to grow his business through the recession.

United Kapital (http://www.unitedkapital.co.uk) is pleased to be one of the first companies to introduce this terminal functionality. Tony Pegg, Managing Director of United Kapital indicated, “These terminals are the most advanced in the market, not only are they effective at their primary function of accepting credit and credit card payments but they give merchants the assurance of working capital as and when they need it. The terminals are PCI DSS compliant and are available to all types of business whether their business currently has a fixed, portable or mobile terminal.”

Out of 10 industries surveyed, half experienced a spike in fraud activity and the remaining saw a decline; the global fraud rate remained steady

BOSTON, October 21, 2009 (PIN Payments News Blog) – The global financial services industry saw a dramatic spike in fraud activity with companies losing an average of $15.2 million over the past three years, according to the latest edition of the Kroll Annual Global Fraud Report, released today at the Association of Corporate Counsel’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Boston. Despite sector-specific spikes and declines in fraud activity, the worldwide fraud rate remained steady in 2009. Companies lost an average $8.8 million to fraud over the past three years, an increase of seven percent over last year’s figure which stood at $8.2 million. The findings are the result of a survey Kroll commissioned from the Economist Intelligence Unit of more than 700 senior executives worldwide.

“Traditionally every downturn brings about a rise in fraud, but what we are seeing in 2009 is something far more complex. Companies are seeing greater vulnerability due to reduction in internal controls, pay cuts and reduced revenue across the board, but counteracting this increased risk are the realities of today’s constrained business environment, where factors such as high staff turnover, entry into new markets and inter-firm collaboration are far less common than in years past. In short, the current economic crisis has increased the motive for fraud, but decreased the opportunity.

Of course, this shift in business behavior is only as lasting as the economic crisis itself, which is why companies must work to bolster their existing anti-fraud strategies in preparation for the economic changes to come.”

Overall, 30 percent of companies reported the current economic climate had directly increased their exposure to fraud over the past 12 months, with only five percent reporting a decline. Of all the regions surveyed North America experienced the highest incidence of fraud as a result of the global financial crisis (32 percent).

Other key findings include:

The Middle East and Africa experienced the worst fraud levels of all the regions with companies losing an average $11.5 million and seeing the highest incidence rate in seven out of the 10 frauds surveyed

North America was no longer the low fraud leader with seven out of 10 fraud incidences showing an increase over 2008 figures. Companies experiencing internal financial fraud and financial mismanagement rose substantially, however theft of physical assets, corruption and vendor fraud were lower than any other region

Larger companies with annual sales of over $5 billion reported greater average losses (rising to $25.8 million from $23.3 million in 2008), while the situation improved for smaller businesses with yearly revenue under $5 billion (dropping to $4.6 million from $5.5 million last year).

The third Kroll Annual Global Fraud Report includes a full detailed industry analysis across a range of fraud categories and regions. To obtain a copy please visit www.kroll.com/fraud.

Methodology

Kroll commissioned The Economist Intelligence Unit to conduct a worldwide survey on fraud and its effect on business during 2009. A total of 729 senior executives took part in this survey. A little more than a third of the respondents were based in North and South America, 25 percent in Asia-Pacific, just over a quarter in Europe and 11 percent in the Middle East and Africa.

Ten industries were covered, with no fewer than 50 respondents drawn from each industry. The highest number of respondents came from the financial services industry (12 percent). A total of 46 percent of the companies polled had global annual revenues in excess of $1 billion.

About Kroll

Kroll, the world's leading risk consulting company, provides a broad range of investigative, intelligence, financial, security and technology services to help clients reduce risks, solve problems and capitalize on opportunities. Headquartered in New York with offices in more than 60 cities in over 29 countries, Kroll has a multidisciplinary team of more than 3,000 employees and serves a global clientele of law firms, financial institutions, corporations, non-profit institutions, government agencies, and individuals. Kroll is a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MMC), the global professional services firm.

About The Economist Intelligence Unit

The Economist Intelligence Unit is the business information arm of The Economist Group, publisher of The Economist. Through our global network of about 700 analysts, we continuously assess and forecast political, economic and business conditions in 200 countries. As the world's leading provider of country intelligence, we help executives make better business decisions by providing timely, reliable and impartial analysis on worldwide market trends and business strategies.

Washington, October 2009 – Despite a progressively deteriorating economic environment, including the worst holiday season in decades, 57 percent of online retailers surveyed for Shop.org’s State of Retailing Online reported they were more profitable in 2008 than 2007. The survey polled 117 retailers and was conducted by Forrester Research, Inc.

“Many Americans are heading to the internet first to look for sales and promotions, especially when shopping for gifts and big purchases,” said Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org. “Though online retailers have had their challenges within the past year and watched consumers pull back on spending, e-commerce continues to be a bright spot in business.”

According to the survey, online retailers adjusted to the economy in a variety of different ways. Nine in ten retailers (91%) focused on preserving margins, while 88 percent of retailers amplified promotions or increased “value” messaging. Slightly more than half of retailers (53%) lowered prices as a result of the economy.

As the U.S. economy suffered in 2008, the environment provided an opportunity for some online retailers to focus on gaining market share while other retailers struggled. For many, that concentration proved successful: according to the survey, one-third of online retailers (33%) said they increased market share during the downturn.

“While online retailers have been able to navigate better than most through the economic downturn, companies should continue to focus on keeping costs low and integrating the online and offline channels in order to be best positioned when the economy bounces back,” said Sucharita Mulpuru, Forrester Research principal analyst.

As the economy begins to stabilize and consumer confidence grows, online retailers are hopeful for the future with guarded optimism. Four out of five online retailers (60%) believe the U.S economy will improve within the next year, and half (50%) think their web business will actually fare better than expected in the next 12 months. That said, retailers are being cautious internally: even though the overall sentiment about online retail is strong, thirty-eight percent said that they have actually lowered expectations around the Web business, even though the overall sentiment about the channel is strong.

"The State Of Retailing Online 2009: Profitability Report" is currently available to Shop.org members and can also be purchased directly at www.shop.org/soro. Select Forrester clients will be able to access the report directly on www.forrester.com as part of their subscription service starting on October 23, 2009.

Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) is an independent research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology. Forrester works with professionals in 20 key roles at major companies providing proprietary research, customer insight, consulting, events, and peer-to-peer executive programs. For more than 26 years, Forrester has been making IT, marketing, and technology industry leaders successful every day. For more information, visit www.forrester.com.

Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, is the world's leading membership community for digital retail. Founded in 1996, Shop.org's 700 members include the 10 largest retailers in the U.S. and more than 60 percent of the Internet Retailer Top 100 E-Retailers. It's where the best retail minds come together to gain the insight, knowledge and intelligence to make smarter, more informed decisions in the evolving world of the Internet and multichannel retailing. Shop.org programs and activities include benchmarking research, events and networking communities.

Question: Do you still really believe it is safe to bank online by typing in your username and password instead of authenticating yourself the same way you would do at an ATM?

According to the latest study by Symantec, up to 43 MILLION people may have voluntarily (can you say..."duped") given their bank details to the bad guys.

Don't people know that "sharing" their username and password to "anybody" (let alone the bad guys) means that the bank won't reimburse them? Seriously...here's an example from Wells Fargo.

Our Guarantee

We guarantee that you will be covered for 100% of funds removed from your Wells Fargoaccounts in the unlikely event that someone you haven’t authorized removes those funds through our Online Services. To qualify for this guarantee, you must follow Your Responsibilities below.

Up to 43 million people could have given their bank details to cyber criminals after being duped by fake anti-virus software online, a web security firm has found.

Figures published by Symantec suggest: 93 percent of the people scammed downloaded the rogue programs "by choice" after being tricked into believing it was legitimate.

Editor's Note: So much for the idea of "educating" customers about the dangers of phishing. I never really thought that was a good "master plan" anyway.

The better "master plan" would be the elimination of typing username/passwords into a box at an online banking website. Then phishers have nothing to phish phor. Otherwise...online banking fraud will double...I suppose instead of giving away a HomeATM SLIM they could ask their online banking customers if they "Would Like Phries" with their Philet-O-Phish...

From Symantec: Web users fall prey to the scam when they click on links, pop-ups or flashing adverts warning them their computer is infected. The fake program then appears to run a virus check which tells the user their PC is infected and asks them to pay for it to be cleaned up.

But downloading the software can give criminals access to bank details and computer files. Symantec found 250 rogue programs were downloaded 43 million times in the 12 months to July 2009.

The company's analysts believe a small number of people run networks of more than 1,000 distributors — whose earnings are linked to the number of machines they infect.

The distributors, most of whom are in the United States, may not even realize they are acting illegally. "It is a challenge to (ph)fight this," Orla Cox, Symantec's security operations manager told Sky News Online.

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The art of a technology blog
by Tim Cawsey
It’s always pleasing to see creative, informed content get the recognition it deserves, particularly in the world of social media. I thought I’d take a look at some of the security, telecoms and emerging tech blogs that we’ve been following here at Gemalto.
In no particular order, here’s a look at five blogs I enjoy reading online when I’m looking for something reliable, entertaining and, above all, utterly informative from the blogosphere…
ePayment News – Curated by John B. Frank, the ePayment News blog is bold and beautiful, covering everything from tech updates to investment market reviews. Handy features include the ‘you might also like’ (I almost always do…) bars and Payment News RSS page of ever evolving information.